First Windows 10 'Redstone 5' Build, New Windows App Preview Program Released

New minor features released to latest Redstone 4 as well as first Redstone 5 Builds 17101 for Fast ring & 17604 for Skip Ahead. HoloLens now available for rent.

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Last week, Microsoft released a Redstone 4 test Build 17093 of Windows 10 for PC to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring and Skip Ahead, with handful of new features, including a new diagnostics-delete button.

Other improvements made to Game bar, graphics, Eye control, Windows Security, as well as a new feature that allow Windows 10 S users to download the Authenticator App and use it to set up Windows 10 S PC.

"You will be able to go through the out-of-box experience, set up Windows Hello and access all your favorite apps and services – all without ever having to enter your password."

Which was followed by a new Windows Server Insider Preview Build 17093, Project Honolulu Technical Preview 1802, and Windows 10 SDK Preview Build 17095. "Windows Server Insider Preview Build 17093 released to the Windows Server Insiders was a preview build of the next Semi-Annual Channel release of Windows Server. "

Now on Wednesday, Microsoft made the first ever build of Redstone 5 branch available to Windows Insiders in the Skip Ahead dubbed Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 17604 (RS5). Also, a new RS4 Build 17101 is released to the Windows Insiders in the Fast ring.

Explaining the reason of a different build for Skip Ahead, Microsoft said that since build 17017 and up until today, both Insiders in Skip Ahead and Fast ring were getting same RS4 builds—and because, this Skip Ahead never "turned off" many Insiders remained there in. Now, going forward, Skip Ahead will start receiving new builds for RS5 "which is the next Windows 10 release."

In the chart below, you can see Skip Ahead roadmap:

Both the Builds 17101 & 17604 today received several improvements, including:

Newly designed emoji expression improves the consistency of emoticons

Smilies search are now available in over 150 languages, including English (UK), French (France), German (Germany), Spanish (Spain) and many more. To remind you, place the emoticons panel focus on the text field and press WIN + (period) or WIN + (semicolon).

Windows App Permissions now bring additional control to manage access of full file system by the UWP apps,

With new UWP File System Access you will be able to grant or turn off broad file system access globally at any time by going to Settings -> Privacy -> File System Access—On this page, you can also turn it on or off for each app that has requested the capability.

Today, Microsoft made two new features available to Windows 10 Pro for Workstations, including:

Ultimate Performance power scheme builded on current High-Performance however, goes a step further as it eliminate micro-latencies associated with fine grained power management techniques.

This new plan is selectable either by an OEM or by a user—Just go to Control Panel, navigate to Power Options under Hardware and Sound (you can also "run" Powercfg.cpl).

The next feature will put productivity and enterprise focused apps out of box visible as tiles in the start menu. Thereby, replacing current consumer applications and games.

In the following screen, you can see new start menu for Windows 10 Pro for Workstations:

In addition, Windows App Preview Program introduced today makes it easier to test out latest app updates with Insider Preview builds. To opt-in to a preview for an app—Just go to the Settings or About page of the app and click the "Join preview" button.

The following apps are available to Insiders to opt-in to previews:

Feedback Hub

Microsoft Photos

Microsoft Sticky Notes

Microsoft Tips

Paint 3D

Windows Alarms & Clock

Windows Calculator

Windows Camera

Windows Mixed Reality Viewer

Windows Voice Recorder

Those, already opted into Skip Ahead—need not to apply.

For full changelog, see under.

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC (Build 17101)

We fixed an issue from the last flight were some PCs failed to resume from hibernate (requiring a hard reboot to recover).

We fixed an issue resulting in 3 and 4 finger gestures on the touchpad being unresponsive in the last two flights.

We fixed an issue after upgrading to the last flight where Start didn't work for Insiders who'd had HomeGroup added as a folder to appear on Start.

We've updated the touch keyboard so that if you try to shapewrite in an unsupported text field or when the typing resources aren't installed, you won't see the shapewriting trail as you swipe your finger over the keys.

We fixed an issue where the touch keyboard showed an English layout with no IME on/off key when an East Asian keyboard is the only input method on your system.

We fixed an issue where if you install a font product from the Microsoft Store, then later install a new build (feature update), the Store package will remain installed, but the fonts within the package are not installed. Until this is fixed, the temporary workaround is to uninstall the product from the Apps page in Settings, then re-acquire the product from the Store.

We fixed an issue where the touch keyboard might stop invoking automatically after locking the PC and then unlocking the PC by using the touch keyboard to enter your PIN or password.

We fixed an issue where the Japanese IME sometimes wouldn't turn on correctly.

We fixed an issue where the floating dictation UI could be unexpectedly tiny.

We fixed an issue that could result in the mouse cursor suddenly jump to screen corner while mouse was moving in a List Control.

We fixed an issue that could result in tabs hanging and not loading content recently in Microsoft Edge after using the browser for a few days with an adblocker enabled.

We fixed an issue resulting in newly installed Microsoft Edge extensions not appearing in the Extensions pane in the last two flights.

We fixed an issue in Microsoft Edge where favicons in light theme were unexpectedly getting black backgrounds.

We fixed an issue that could result in UWP apps sometimes launching as small white rectangular boxes.

We fixed an issue resulting in certain fingerprint readers not working in recent flights.

We fixed an issue where Windows Hello failed to work on Surface Laptops with the last build.

We fixed an issue that could result in the labels for files on the desktop overlapping their icons.

We're updating the "Advanced graphics settings" link on the Display Settings page to now just say "Graphics Settings".

When your volume is muted, the volume icons in the Sound Settings page will also now appear muted.

If you click the Reset button on the App volume and device preferences page, it will now also reset any app specific volumes you've set back to default (100%).

We fixed an issue resulting in app updates failing in the Microsoft Store with error 0x80070057 in recent builds.

We fixed an issue resulting in app updates failing in the Microsoft Store with error 0x803FB005 in recent builds.

We fixed an issue where bringing up Game bar using the Xbox button on an Xbox One controller didn't work in some games.

We fixed an issue where in the text box for the Mixer stream title using non-character keys (e.g. Tab, Delete, Backspace, etc.) might cause the game to hang for a few seconds.

We fixed an issue where keyboard and mouse input might not work correctly in the Game bar when playing a first person game (e.g. Minecraft).

We fixed an issue where in some games—such as Destiny 2 and Fortnite—mouse and keyboard input would still go to the game while Game bar was open.

We fixed an issue during first shutdown/boot, or reboot, where for some users the device goes into a boot loop and the OS never loads.

Known issues (Build 17101)

We have observed seeing longer-than-normal delays during install at the 88% mark. Some delays are as long as 90 minutes before moving forward. Please be patient as the install will complete successfully.

Plugging in an external optical drive (DVD) will cause an Explorer.exe crash.

Settings will crash if you open the Themes Settings page.

Buttons on Game bar are not centered correctly.

Selecting a notification after taking a screenshot or game clip opens the Xbox app's home screen instead of opening the screenshot or game clip.

General changes, improvements, and fixes for PC (Build 17604)

We fixed an issue from the last flight were some PCs failed to resume from hibernate (requiring a hard reboot to recover).

We fixed an issue after upgrading to the last flight where Start didn't work for Insiders who'd had HomeGroup added as a folder to appear on Start.

We've updated the touch keyboard so that if you try to shapewrite in an unsupported text field or when the typing resources aren't installed, you won't see the shapewriting trail as you swipe your finger over the keys.

Fixed an issue which may have caused a Microsoft Edge tab to crash after playing video when some extensions are enabled

We fixed an issue resulting in newly installed Microsoft Edge extensions not appearing in the Extensions pane in the last two flights.

We fixed an issue where the touch keyboard showed an English layout with no IME on/off key when an East Asian keyboard is the only input method on your system.

We fixed an issue that could result in the mouse cursor suddenly jump to screen corner while mouse was moving in a List Control.

We fixed an issue resulting in certain fingerprint readers not working in recent flights.

We fixed an issue where Windows Hello failed to work on Surface Laptops with the last build.

We're updating the "Advanced graphics settings" link on the Display Settings page to now just say "Graphics Settings".

When your volume is muted, the volume icons in the Sound Settings page will also now appear muted.

If you click the Reset button on the App volume and device preferences page, it will now also reset any app specific volumes you've set back to default (100%).

We fixed an issue resulting in app updates failing in the Microsoft Store with error 0x80070057 in recent builds.

Known issues (Build 17604)

3 and 4 finger gestures on the touchpad are unresponsive.

The Japanese IME sometimes can't turn on in UWP apps. If you encounter this issue switch to a Win32 application (e.g. Notepad), turn the IME on there, then switch back to the UWP app.

Plugging in an external optical drive (DVD) will cause an Explorer.exe crash.

Bringing up Game bar using the Xbox button on an Xbox One controller doesn't work in some games.

In the text box for Mixer stream title, using non-character keys (e.g. Tab, Delete, Backspace, etc.) may cause the game to hang for a few seconds.

Selecting a notification after taking a screenshot or game clip opens the Xbox app's home screen instead of opening the screenshot or game clip.

In some games—such as Destiny 2 and Fortnite—mouse and keyboard input will still go to the game while Game bar is open.

Buttons on Game bar are not centered correctly.

Keyboard and mouse input may not work correctly in Game bar when playing a first person game (e.g. Minecraft). Alt + Tab out of and into the game should fix this.

Settings will crash if you open the Themes Settings page.

Lastly, Microsoft also announced that HoloLens is now available for rent, making it easier for companies to evaluate the device before purchasing or increase their inventory temporarily to support tradeshows and events.

Today, "we are excited to help remove this barrier and announce that customers in North America can now rent a HoloLens from our partners at ABCOMRENTS," stated Micosoft.

Also, Microsoft said it plans to expand the program to some additional markets in the months ahead.

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About The Author

Deepak Gupta is a IT & Web Consultant. He is the founder and CEO of diTii.com & DIT Technologies, where he's engaged in providing Technology Consultancy, Design and Development of Desktop, Web and Mobile applications using various tools and softwares. Sign-up for the Email for daily updates. Google+ Profile.